Mijares vacated the IBF title on 17 August due to weight making difficulties before announcing his retirement from boxing a month later. Following that, Rodrigo Guerrero and Raul Martinez were matched to find a new champion. Having beaten Federico Catubay (w pts 12 at the Centennial Sports Centre, Los Mochis, Sinaloa, Mexico on 24 July 2010), Guerrero lost his next eliminating contest against Martinez at the WinStar Casino, Thackerville, Oklahoma, USA on 20 November 2010. However, the 12-round points decision in Martinez’s favour had been so close that a return bout was a natural.